International news in seven languages
Topic
On paper, Airbnb's exclusive short-term rental partnership with Amex Travel didn't change anything for Expedia because it wasn't supplying vacation rentals to Amex Travel. But Expedia's Vrbo has begun supplying vacation rentals to other B2B partners, and now the Airbnb deal blocks that potential expansion.
Under new rules, guests will no longer have to do tasks that cleaners would normally handle. Hosts can now only make "reasonable" requests, such as leaving dirty dishes in the sink and sorting trash from recycling.
By putting its search inside Amex Travel, and letting Amex's premium cardholders spend lodging credits on Airbnb Luxe, Airbnb boosts its high-end inventory and looks a lot more like a conventional lodging supplier than it ever has.
More than 1 million Airbnb listings are now available to book through Amex Travel, allowing customers to earn membership points on prepaid bookings.
The updated policy will apply to all reservations booked on the accommodation site on or after 20 November.
The new policy formalizes a lot of things Airbnb has been pushing hosts to avoid as unreasonable in recent years — and thus it comes with more enforcement bite.
In this Good Morning Hospitality bonus episode, Wil Slickers sits down with Sam Shank, co-founder and former CEO of HotelTonight, at Skift Global Forum to discuss how AI agents could reshape online travel distribution. Shank explains why AI-driven booking could challenge the sponsored search model that has fueled major online travel agencies like Booking.com and Expedia, while creating new opportunities for specialized agents and booking infrastructure.
With some hosts and property managers upset about being unable to renew or convert to subscriptions, Vrbo should be more transparent about why some listings qualify for an exemption while others don't.
The idea is that paying travelers when rain passes a certain threshold can help increase conversions among those worried about weather spoiling their plans. The question is whether guarantees will spread to other types of weather — like the extreme heat seen in Europe this summer.
In addition to dynamic pricing, Airbnb has floated the idea of adding more products and services for hosts, ranging from design services to financing. The soft franchise model might be more appropriate for individual hosts who don't require multi-platform distribution.
Halloween is falling on a Saturday this year, and Gen Z is apparently looking to make a weekend of it. According to new data from Airbnb, searches for Halloween weekend stays have jumped nearly 45% among Gen Z travelers compared to last year, as younger vacationers look for more elaborate — and occasionally haunted — […]
PSC, ERC and Commons vote in favour of the initiative, which is to be ratified at the December plenary session
From a competition perspective, Vrbo is catching up to Booking.com and Airbnb in pushing the fee burden onto hosts. Eliminating or greatly reducing guest fees has great optics, but travelers will end up paying for them in the form of higher rates.
Airbnb's rekindled push into luxury is its latest revival of initiatives dropped during the pandemic. Among them, Airbnb has expanded its hotels and experiences businesses, and frequently says that it will eventually debut flights.
Airbnb is not a first-mover in AI launches. That's OK: Kayak wasn't a first-mover in metasearch. The issue isn't necessarily timing, but whether Airbnb can offer AI products that are better than its rivals.
Airbnb and Booking.com charge no guest fees. But Vrbo has stated that it will keep guest fees, although the amounts will be flexible. That lack of specificity will stoke host anger because this gives hosts little visibility into the actual prices their guests will have to pay.
On Monday's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast, Brandreth Canaley, Michael Goldin, and Jamie Lane recap sessions from Skift Global Forum that every STR operator should be paying attention to.
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky didn't address at length his changing views about Airbnb experiences, but there, too, he's softened his old religion about them having to be unique, and has added mainstream tours and activities.
Major experiences players market to travelers, not locals. Can Airbnb be the exception to the rule?
Although the list does not entail economic sanctions, these companies are usually the subject of boycotts or disinvestments to pressure Israel for the expansion of settlements in the territory that houses more than three million Palestinians. This time 61 companies were added, such as the Israeli pesticide manufacturer Adama, belonging to the Chinese group Syngenta, or the Spanish Salvat Logística, which joined Airbnb or Expidia, which were already on the list.
